White’s ooo-la-la moment

A few second-day thoughts on Bill White’s Friday-night acceptance speech:

Michael Moore, White’s chief aide, insists that his boss wrote the speech himself, although one of his most effective lines was probably ad-libbed. Pummeling Perry for living high on the hog, he observed, “We learn that Perry charges taxpayers for a $10,000-a-month rented mansion, larger than anything used by prior governors, with chefs and a subscription to Food & Wine magazine.” Grinning, he added, “Oooh-la-la!”

Maybe members of the Houston City Council have heard their sober-minded former mayor utter “Oooh-la-la!,” but I doubt it.

Maybe two-thirds of the speech consisted of zingers directed at Perry, including this one about the governor looking to advance his career: “Now it appears that he spots another opening–national leader of the far right wing. He’s auditioning for that role now. The opening was created when Ms. Palin cashed in. Are we surprised? No: Rick Perry is in it for himself.”

He got off another good line, although he stumbled a bit in the delivery: Rick Perry has been governor longer than any governor of Texas but Sam Houston. Sam Houston and Rick Perry are both going to be defeated on the same issue: secession. The difference is that Sam Houston was against it, and Rick Perry is for it.”

Mark Miner, Rick Perry’s spokesman, described White’s speech as one of the most negative in recent political history. That’s a bit hyperbolic, of course, even though Mark’s boss was in the crosshairs throughout the speech. White, of course, realized what he had to do. A comparatively colorless, no-nonsense candidate, he knew he had to excite the party faithful, many of whom came to Corpus anxious about whether White was a tough and agile fighter. He’s no Rick Perry on the stump – I doubt that he wants to be – but the folks I talked to after his speech believed he accomplished his aim.